Celta vs Shakhtar: Pitmen’s opinions
Thursday, February 16, 2017
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The Donetsk side’s players reflect on the victory over Celta
Taison, Shakhtar midfielder:
- I want to congratulate the entire team and our fans on Shakhtar’s grand victory! Today we have showed our best qualities and helped one another to obtain a good result. All of us congratulated Gustavo Blanco Leschuk on scoring his debut goal. He has proved with his display that he must be the part of Shakhtar. Making a first competitive start in the match of such a level is always exciting, but he coped with the pressure and produced a brilliant performance. I very much hope that we will enjoy the support from the entire stadium of faithful in Kharkiv and showcase a good performance in the reverse meeting.
It could be seen that it was our first competitive match of the year. Not all things turned out as planned, but we worked out on the field, backing up each other to carry out the mentor’s instructions, thanks to the dedication and discipline
Maksym Malyshev, Shakhtar midfielder:
- We are very happy with the win. We put a lot of effort and obtained the result through collective action. It could be seen that it was our first competitive match of the year. Not all things turned out as planned, but we worked out on the field, backing up each other to carry out the mentor’s instructions, thanks to the dedication and discipline. Tonight, Blanco Leschuk has notched a valuable away goal for us. The entire team are very happy for Gustavo! He’s done a great job, being a true professional who gives his all during training sessions. It is crucial for Gustavo to register a goal in Kharkiv as well. It was very important for us to keep a clean sheet. At the same time, it is too bad we have not converted more, since we operated well on the counters and had close chances. There is a return fixture ahead of us to decide all. The odds are even.
I think we managed to do that by sealing a 1-0 win. With few more clear-cut opportunities coming our way, we could have netted more. In Kharkiv, we need to show character and get the result we need
Ivan Ordets, Shakhtar defender:
- I guess, as for the first competitive start after the winter break, we displayed not a bad performance, especially playing away, with the pitch being so hard on top of that. We knew that our opponents would try their hardest to demonstrate aggressive football and put pressure, with Celta causing a lot of danger with set pieces. I think we managed to do that by sealing a 1-0 win. With few more clear-cut opportunities coming our way, we could have netted more. In Kharkiv, we need to show character and get the result we need.